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I am the Director of my department.  I have 6 supervisors that report to me.  One of my supervisors has been on a long road to being removed.   She finally broke the camels back and was fired on Wednesday.  I had been coaching her for over a year and a half to help her be successful and finally had to pull the trigger.  She is adored by her staff because she coddles them, covers up for them, falsifies records to keep them out of trouble, she hangs out with them, etc.

During the past year and a half trying toelp her get on the bus was met wth extreme resistance and several 'anonymous' letters to the union and the CEO about how mean and horrible I am.  They even sent letters to the CEO's home.  They filled an EEO complaint against me for sexual harrassment and hostile work enviroment.  This was all investigated and dismissed.  The hostility toward me has grown.

This supervisor was fired on Wednesday morning and on of her directs quit on the spot and walked out with her.  This wasno surprise because they are very close friends and this employee has been a cancer in my department since I started woking here.

That afternoon I met my husband for lunch.  We sat down and ordered  our food.  All of a sudden, the 'cancer' employee was standing right next to me. She asks me "So, you must be having a great day today."  I said, "I don't know, it's fine I guess, why are you asking me?"  She says" Well, you got rid of 'supervisor' and me all in one day, you must be pretty proud of yourself."  I told the employee to leave me alone and I  will not engage it any conversation with you."  She started to swear and yell at me to the point my husband asked the manager to kick her out that she was harrassing us. She even yelled ans swore at my husband. 

Whie my husband was awayf from the table, she proceeded o tell me that I she is going to bring me down and that I havn't seen the last of her, she made a peace sign with her right hand and hit her chest twice an walked away.  I told my husband that we needed to leave, as we walked out I looked to see who was all with her and it was several of my employees and the supervisor I just fired, on the table there were several bouqets of flowers. 

When I returned to my office my boss and the police were waiting for me.  They said they received a call that I was drunk and driving and was heading back to work.  It was all false. I was cleared by police and my boss. 

My boss and  HR said that I should expect more things like that.  Also, today, another anonymous letter was sent to my boss.  

Anyone have any advice besides what my boss and HR tell me?  They tell me that they will keep trying to get me trouble and to always have someone I trust with me.  They also told me to stop going out for a month or so so I don't run into anyone. 

I am so frustrated and I want to support those employees that do get it and are of the bus.

 

Thanks

TNoxtort's picture

Wow, sorry that this happened to you. I thought it only happened in movies. If your company has a security department, you need to get them involved. Perhaps even the local police and taking out restraining orders on people. This is more than just job related, I think. Hopefully others have some ideas.

Also, what does your boss say?

ssentes's picture
Admin Role Badge

The behavior you're describing goes far beyond the point of unhappy staff and into the realm of harassment. The behaviors you are seeing and experiencing are unethical and completely inappropriate. Ethical issues are not to be taken lightly. Take a listen to these casts on ethics, they will help define how strongly we believe in them:

https://www.manager-tools.com/2012/03/ethics-part-1

https://www.manager-tools.com/2012/03/ethics-part-2

I cannot stress enough the importance of documentation in this situation. I sincerely hope until now that you've been writing all of this down and if not you need to start immediately. In work situations we often advise individuals to document for HR reasons. But as was mentioned in the last reply you will need to consider going to security and/or the police directly and they will want documentation as well. The moment you get yourself in a he said she said scenario you are bound to lose. Take a moment to review these podcasts and begin full and complete documentation immediately:

https://www.manager-tools.com/2014/03/documentation-basics

https://www.manager-tools.com/2014/03/documentation-basics-part-2

You need to isolate how much of this is coming from your past employees and how much is coming from current directs. I would agree that you should take all of this to the police for assistance in the matter. You have got plenty of information as well as the support of the CEO (who is your manager?) and HR. There have also been false accusations made to the HR department which have been documented and police reports documenting false accusations. A restraining order of the supervisor you fired as well as the employee who subsequently quit should be sought immediately.

A manager's results are the aggregated sum of a group of people, the directs involved are these people. I cannot imagine that at this point you are achieving high output from this group. Not to mention it is an expectation that all work product be reported to a manager. You do not mention in your message who the upset team reports to at current, yourself or another manager. If it is you you need to begin One on Ones immediately and again document them. As the manager you have every right to expect all work is reported to you and if these directs have nothing to say to you in the O3, again you need to document that.

https://www.manager-tools.com/2010/07/assign-work-and-reporting

https://www.manager-tools.com/2011/10/top-and-bottom-performer-reporting

You need to give all of your current directs a chance to change their behavior while at the same time covering your bases. The podcasts below will give some insight and tips on what to do:

https://www.manager-tools.com/2010/01/how-stop-gossip

https://www.manager-tools.com/2006/02/how-to-fire-someone-well-almost

https://www.manager-tools.com/2006/03/the-late-and-early-stage-coaching-...

https://www.manager-tools.com/2006/03/late-stage-coaching-model-review-p...

I sincerely hope that some of this was helpful. You are in quite a situation and I can appreciate that it must be stressful. Please let me know if this was not helpful or if there is anything else I can do to assist.

Sarah Sentes - Manager Tools Presenting Associate

[email protected]